Playing the Player: Difference between revisions

** [[Silent Hill 2]] plays this trope straight, while the other games in the series (aside from Shattered Memories) do not. {{spoiler|In Silent Hill 2, the protagonist, a sad bloke the player usually has significant sympathy for, is revealed to have murdered his wife and is receiving a karmic beatdown he well deserves. The player and character discover this at the same time, leading to horror for both alike.}}

* The [[Alternate Reality Game]] ''Majestic'' was marketed as [[Lampshade Hanging|"the game that plays you"]]. As an [[Alternate Reality Game]], it presented itself as part of [[Real Life]] and many of the people that played the game reported being rendered [[Paranoia Fuel|completely paranoid]] during the time they played it. Indeed, "messing with the guy that plays ''Majestic''" became an office hobby during the time the game was operating. The game began with the player receiving news that the developers had been killed, and it only got worse from there. Since the game focused on [[Conspiracy Theory]] material, the player being constantly lied to makes sense.

* ''[[Heavy Rain]]'' does this to the player regarding the identity of the killer. {{spoiler|The killer is one of the player characters that you control and said character's thoughts do not directly allude to his deeds except in hindsight. You control the character under the assumption that his actions are to solve the mystery, when in reality he's trying to find his [[Jack the Ripoff]] and collect and destroy any remaining evidence.}}

* ''[[NieR]]'' is arguably an example, at least on subsequent playthroughs. First time one plays through, its a typical [[Eastern RPG]]. Fight the monstrous Shades, save your daughter, defeat [[Big Bad|The Shadowlord]] and [[Happy Ending]] ensues. But then, you start your second playthrough {{spoiler|with the ability to understand the [[Black Speech]] of the Shades. Suddenly the entire tone of the game shifts. It turns out most of the Shades are innocent victims who are just trying to defend themselves, many of the game's antagonists are seriously provoked, and to them ''you'' are the monster. You're cutting them down, killing their children, invading their homes... you did this on your first playthrough too, but your limited perspective kept you from this.}}